These Are the Cities With the Highest Inflation Rates in the U.S. Right Now

Declan Gallagher
·2 min read

WalletHub has updated its report on the American cities which have been hardest hit by inflation. The outlet examined 23 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) to better understand how inflation is impacting cities nationwide. To assess the difference, the site compared Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the latest month, two months previous, and one year previous.

Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, FL were determined to be the cities that had seen the highest inflation rate, with prices rising 1.2 percent from the previous two months and 7.8 percent over the past year. Denver, CO (1.3 percent and 4.7 percent) and Atlanta, GA (1.1 percent and 4.4 percent) took second and third place, respectively.

The cities where inflation increased the least were the Washington, D.C.-Alexandria, VA area (number 23), as well as Boston, MA (number 22). In all districts, inflation was measured at -0.1 percent over the last two months. Over the previous year, they measured 1.8 and 2.8 percent, respectively. They represent two of the lowest inflation rates on the list.

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA (number 19) was a close follow-up, with 0.0 percent inflation over the last two months. It ranked higher up the list, however, because inflation across the previous year was measured at 3.4 percent. Ditto for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, which likewise measured -0.1 percent over the last two months, but saw a whopping 5.9 percent over the last year.

Experts attribute the rise in inflation to a variety of factors, including the war in Ukraine, global supply chain issues, and delayed effects from the fiscal stimulus undertaken between 2020–2022.

You can check out the ranking of cities with the biggest inflation problems below, and read WalletHub’s entire report here.

  1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL

  2. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO

  3. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

  4. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

  5. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

  6. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

  7. Anchorage, AK

  8. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

  9. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

  10. Riverside-San Bernadino-Ontario, CA

  11. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

  12. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA

  13. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

  14. Urban Honolulu, HI

  15. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

  16. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

  17. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ

  18. St. Louis, MO-IL

  19. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA

  20. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

  21. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

  22. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

  23. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV